A Dragon Slayer In Love
by Candy Bomber
Summary: If there was someone everyone thought had no idea about love, it was Natsu.
1. Prologue

**Title: **A Dragon Slayer In Love

**Author: **Candy Bomber

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

**Summary: **If there was someone everyone thought had no idea about love, it was Natsu.

**Author's Note: **Just my take on an, in my opinion, overused plot. Hope you guys enjoy. 

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Natsu Dragneel could be very predictable and obvious. You could tell if he was angry by the way his mouth would curl into a snarl and in the way his eyes cast such a murderous intent at whoever was stupid enough to threaten the guild he considered his family. A look of determination was something a lot of them had already seen as the fire mage would go to any lengths to defeat an opponent; none of them would forget the story of how the fire mage had eaten Etherion to defeat Jellal. Natsu was a carefree person, though, so he wore a smile on his face on most days spent with his _nakama_.

Yes, one could almost say that Natsu wore his heart on his sleeve as other people always seemed to be privy to his thoughts and emotions. However, this didn't seem to be one of those times.

"Mirajane?" Erza said as she walked towards the silver-haired mage with a purposeful gait. Mirajane looked at her with her usual cheerful expression. "Have you noticed anything…odd about Natsu?" she asked, her voice dropping so only Mirajane could hear.

Mirajane put a hand to her mouth and chuckled quietly as she looked at the mage in question. At the moment, Natsu was flinging Gray in circular motions in the air as he bumped heads with Gajeel. It didn't seem like anything was out of the ordinary as the three of them would get into minor squabbles numerous times in a day, but Mirajane always knew better.

Natsu had stormed inside the guild, and roared a challenge to Gray and Gajeel as they were enjoying their breakfast. And without even a proper reply, the fire mage had lunged straight at them.

She turned back to Erza who was now looking at her questioningly. But Mirajane only flashed her a mysterious smile.

"Everything will come to light sooner than you think," she said with another chuckle as she walked behind the bar. "I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you."

It was then that the guild doors opened to reveal a radiant, grinning Lucy. If anybody noticed the timing as to how Natsu was suddenly distracted long enough to be flung across the guild hall coincided by the stellar mage's arrival, nobody mentioned anything. Mirajane, however, could not help but chuckle once more.

You see, Natsu Dragneel could be very predictable and obvious. You could almost say he wore his heart on his sleeve. But everyone seemed to be wondering why Natsu was behaving the way he was at the moment. They'd seen it all before: furious Natsu, desperate Natsu, devastated Natsu… What everyone but Mirajane failed to realize was that they were seeing a side of Natsu they didn't even think was possible.

The dragon slayer had fallen in love.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

**Author's Note: **Just my take on an, in my opinion, overused plot. Btw, I'm planning to hint out a couple of other pairings just for the sake of it, but Natsu and Lucy will be the main focus of this story. Here's a new chapter for you, enjoy and don't forget to review :) 

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Magnolia was a very vibrant city, which was to be expected since it was a merchant city. During daytime, the streets would be bustling with people looking for magical trinkets, books, and scrolls to buy or sell. The city had always been known for being a place of magic since the ancient times, and its reputation only reinforced for housing what many consider to be the strongest Guild in all of Fiore. Fairy Tail.

It wasn't uncommon for Natsu Dragneel, famed Fire Dragon Slayer and one of Fairy Tail's strongest members, to be stopped in his tracks by a piece of paper being shoved in his face. Uncommon it was not, but it sure was annoying as hell!

"What the—," he muttered to himself as he raised his head to peek over said piece of paper. A short, blonde girl was looking shyly up at him with her bright green eyes from behind the paper. She would've been pretty, Natsu thought, if it weren't for her green eyes. He glanced at her hair. Too dark.

"—your autograph, Mr. Dragneel?"

"Sorry, I'm on a mission," he replied, as he stepped to the side before quickly walking past her. "You can go to Fairy Tail if you want, they have my autograph there!" he yelled as an afterthought, noting how disappointed the girl seemed to be.

But nothing was more important than the mission at hand, Natsu thought to himself as his eyes darted around. Instinctively, he looked above him and saw Happy approaching him from the sky. From the frown on the blue Exceed's face, Natsu already knew the answer before he even asked the question.

"Nothing?"

Happy shook his head. "Nothing. Nobody from the guild has seen her," he said in a panicked voice, his big eyes becoming teary. "It's like she just disappeared, Natsu!"

But the pink-haired mage shook his head. "She wouldn't do that to us, Happy. She's not like that," he said, patting Happy's head softly. "Why don't you go back to the guild and wait for me there?"

Happy peered up at him as he sniffled. "You sure?"

Natsu flashed him a toothy smile as he put his hands on his hips. "Positive! Go ahead, buddy."

It was only when Happy was out of sight did Natsu's smile turn into a frown. He looked at the bookstore beside him and sighed. Book Land, one of the many bookstores here in Magnolia. It was a pink colored, average-sized building and the last place Natsu knew where to look. He was running out of patience with the lack of leads he was getting.

Yesterday morning, he and Happy went out on a mission to retrieve a client's missing locket up in Mt. Hakobe. The same snowing mountains that they, along with Lucy, had saved Macao from what seemed like a long time ago. They had asked Lucy to come with them on their mission, pestering her to no end, but she didn't seem interested; saying that she couldn't and that she'd be late for something important. Natsu thought that if Lucy was passing up on making money to pay for her rent, then it must be really important. And so, Natsu and Happy went on the mission without Lucy, sulking all the way.

The mission was so easy Natsu could've done it with his eyes closed! One of the Vulcans had taken interest in the locket and refused to give it back without a fight. Said fight only lasted four—maybe five seconds. One _Fire Dragon's Roar_ and it was over, much to Natsu's disappointment. What was the word Happy used? _Ah_. Overkill.

The travel time it took for them to go to and from the mountain took up most of the mission. Natsu wished angrily that he hadn't picked that mission at all. But that wasn't the problem now. No, the problem now was that they arrived from the mountain almost two hours ago and Natsu hadn't seen his blonde partner yet; and according to Happy, nobody from the guild had seen her today either.

Happy had a tendency to overreact when it came to Lucy, but Natsu knew Lucy wouldn't just up and leave without at least a letter. After all, the celestial spirit mage had left a couple of times without saying anything in the past but always made sure to leave a letter so no would worry about her. It seemed equally unlikely to Natsu that she'd get kidnapped like she did before, considering that Lucy's reputation as a Fairy Tail mage had grown that no other mage would underestimate her abilities to defend herself.

Just when Natsu was about to run out of ideas, a familiar blue-haired mage walked out of Book Land carrying a bunch of books that were placed in a plain paper bag. "Levy!" he called out, raising his hand in the air when she turned around to the sound of his voice.

"Ah, Natsu," she greeted him with her usual cheerfulness when he approached her. "I didn't know you were back from your mission."

Natsu rolled his eyes at the mention of the mission. "It was a lame mission," he scowled. "Happy could've done it on his own, that's how easy it was."

Levy chuckled as she brushed a stray hair away from her face with her free hand. "You should've known there'd be nothing challenging for you up there."

"Yeah," Natsu replied, when he suddenly remembered the reason why he called Levy's attention in the first place. "Say, you haven't seen Lucy around, have you?" he asked, hoping that she had.

But Levy just shrugged. "Last time I saw her was yesterday," she said as she nodded to the book store she had just recently come out from. "We met at Book Land for a book signing. I accompanied her so she could meet Ralph Traugott."

The name definitely didn't ring any bells. "Who?"

"I guess you wouldn't have heard of him," Levy said, smiling as she started talking excitedly. "Ralph Traugott is a famous fiction writer from Crocus and he happens to be Lucy's favorite. He had a book signing here yesterday."

"Okay," Natsu said slowly. Helpful information, he supposed, but it didn't tell him where to find Lucy though. "Did you guys go anywhere else after that?"

"Uhm," Levy said, looking everywhere but at Natsu. Her cheeks had slightly turned pink, which Natsu thought was strange but didn't comment on it. "I actually went somewhere else before the book signing ended. I don't know where Lucy went after I left."

"Oh," Natsu said, his eyebrows furrowing as he bumped into another dead end. "Thanks Levy."

Levy looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry I wasn't any help."

The pink-haired mage shook his head and offered a small smile. "Nah, you were plenty of help Levy, thanks. I gotta go, though, see you later at the guild!" he said, saying the last sentence while walking away with a small wave.

The solid-script chuckled, shaking her head as she did so. She was about to turn around to begin walking back to the guild when she heard Natsu call her name. The dragon slayer was grinning at her, and the next words he said before running off made her whole face red in mortification.

"Say hi to Gajeel for me!"

* * *

Natsu was at a loss. He honestly had no clue where Lucy was, and he _absolutely_ refused to even think that something had happened to her. Besides, Natsu's gut was telling him that she was just here within the city. There was only one more thing he could do; it was to wait for her to get home.

It made sense to just wait for her _inside_ her apartment; after all it was something their team always did. It was natural. But despite how tempting the thought was, he decided against it. So he waited on the roof instead. Natsu sat cross-legged and interlaced his fingers behind his head and leaned against one of the chimneys.

That was when he heard it; the familiar voices of two men telling Lucy to be careful. He turned his head toward the sound and, sure enough, Lucy was walking on the wall separating the sidewalk and the water canal. Natsu couldn't help but smile at her childish habit; that was until he saw that she was holding on to a hand that belonged to a man. Natsu quickly stood up from his position and used the chimney he was previously leaning on to hide himself.

He was sure he had never seen the man with Lucy before. From what he could tell with the light coming from the lamp posts, this man had dark hair. He was wearing a dark coat that reached the back of his knees, dark trousers, and dark shoes. And from the way he was laughing with Lucy and holding her hand, Natsu knew he didn't like this strange man one bit. And when the man put his hands on Lucy's waist to _assist_ her as she jumped down from the wall—the wall that was low enough that he didn't need to _assist _her—Natsu found himself gritting his teeth; his hands clenched into fists.

Natsu stepped back into the shadows as they neared the apartment until they were standing right under the lamp post that was directly in front of the apartment. Something was telling him that he should leave before he saw anything else, but Natsu didn't listen. A second later, he regretted it.

It was in that moment that Natsu found out what a broken heart felt like.

* * *

Lucy knew what was coming when he placed a hand on her cheek, his other hand lingering on her waist. She could feel her heart skip a beat before beating faster against her chest. Her whole body tingled with anticipation as he closed in. Their lips connected. Time seemed to slow.

Just before Lucy closed her eyes fully, she caught a shadow that seemed to leap from one roof to the next out of the corner of her eye. But she didn't care. Nothing would ruin this moment.

She had no way of knowing that while her heart was doing somersaults, another heart was silently breaking.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

**Summary: **If there was someone everyone thought had no idea about love, it was Natsu.

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! In the previous chapter, I introduced an original character of mine: Ralph Traugott. He is a famous fiction writer from Crocus. The reason why I created him because I wanted Natsu to have a sort of point of jealousy. I could've done that with any of the original Fairy Tail characters, I suppose, but I didn't want Natsu and Lucy to have a falling out with any of the members of Fairy Tail or with friends from a different guild. And so, Ralph was born.

I assure you, I ship NatsuxLucy. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

It was a common misconception among Fairy Tail that Lucy Heartfilia had gone on many dates and had gone through a lot of relationships. This only strengthened her reputation as one of the guild's resident heartthrobs, and that—along with being a powerful celestial spirit mage—made her a deadly force to be reckoned with. This couldn't be farther from the truth, and people would likely be shocked and even skeptical if they had heard that the blonde's first kiss was taken away only last night.

What most people fail to realize was that Lucy was sheltered most of her life. Back at the Heartfilia estate, her only friends were the family's staff who had taken care of her when her mother passed away. She had no real friends that were her age even when she'd gone to a prestigious school for the wealthy. Children her age were intimidated by her last name, Heartfilia. They would smile at her when she was around, but be secretly afraid that they'd be blamed if young Lucy would trip or that they would be accused of bullying if Lucy couldn't win a single game and tattled to the teachers or worse, her father. So they had avoided her. Lucy couldn't get a single friend her age; it was ridiculous to assume that she would have had boyfriends.

Perhaps people thought that with the amount of freedom that she gained since she ran away from home and joined Fairy Tail, she would've had enough time to collect many suitors. But that was a ridiculous notion as well, for anyone who really knew Lucy would know that the freedom she gained was spent hanging out at the guild or going out on missions with her equally famous, if not more so, fire-wielding partner and his flying blue cat.

Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes as she remembered Mirajane's and Lisanna's relentless teasing that Natsu was enamored by her, which couldn't be even remotely true. They were nothing but extremely close friends and Lucy owed the fire dragon slayer a lot. He had saved her countless times without even thinking of what could happen to him in the process, and for that, Lucy would be eternally grateful. But she could never see Natsu as someone she could be romantically involved with. _Ralph Traugott. _Now that was a name that sent Lucy blushing to her ears and giggle like a schoolgirl.

Lucy pulled the hard wooden door to her apartment until it closed with a gentle thud. She turned around to gaze at the clear afternoon sky and mentally berated herself for waking up later than usual. The blonde had fallen asleep pretty late because of the restlessness that her first kiss had brought. Lucy brought a hand to her lips, smiling as last night's events played in her mind for what seemed like the hundredth time.

It was like her dream came true. This was honestly not what Lucy expected months ago when she had written a letter to Ralph, her favorite author. The letter had consisted with her admiring the author and the mystery novels that he had written. If Ralph's fans received a reply to their letter, it was usually his agent and other people who worked for Ralph who would write and send it.

But Ralph personally replied to Lucy's letter. He had proclaimed to be a big fan of hers as Lucy's name was also well known in Crocus, most especially after the Grand Magic Games in X791. The strength of her spirit had called out to him, he said, and she would grant him a great honor if they could one day meet. Lucy was, of course, ecstatic.

After exchanging letters with him for almost six months, Lucy had felt like they had been friends for a long time, exchanging easy banter and philosophical conversations that Lucy thoroughly enjoyed. But she wondered if she would ever get to meet Ralph Traugott…until she had spotted a poster of him a week ago, announcing a meet-and-greet in Book Land. Here in Magnolia.

Ralph had recognized her instantly among the fans that had gathered in Book Land yesterday. And Lucy had gotten the sense that he wished the meet-and-greet would end quickly because of all the glances he would shoot her way and the distracted way he would talk to his other fans. It was around five in the afternoon when Levy left Lucy for another appointment that she mysteriously kept secret. It was an hour after that Lucy was granted a visitor's pass in Book Land's office so she could meet the man she had spent months writing letters to.

They had gone to dinner at a fancy restaurant in a part of Magnolia that Lucy rarely ever ventured to. She silently thanked the gods that she decided to wear one of her nicest dresses. There were no awkward silences or clumsy blunders that would've ruined an evening that had been entirely magical. Right down to the chaste, goodnight kiss he had given her in front of her apartment.

Lucy sighed dreamily as she wrapped her arms around herself with her shoulders slightly raised, smiling giddily to herself and not caring if the people around her stared at her. She always read about this part in romance novels, where the heroine could think of nothing but the leading man in her life. Lucy had no idea the feeling would be overwhelming, in a good way.

_'I have to tell Levy,' _she thought to herself as she found herself in front of the entrance of the guild. She had been so lost in her thoughts of Ralph and last night that she didn't even realize that her feet had guided her to the guild like some sort of auto-pilot. Lucy pushed the gigantic wooden doors open and wasn't surprised by the ruckus her guild mates were making. Actually, only three of her guild mates were causing a ruckus.

And as soon as she stepped inside, Natsu went flying against the wall.

* * *

"Damn it," Natsu said as he shook his head and stretched his arms. He had taken a nasty hit from Gajeel, _that stupid metal head._

Said metal head went up to him with a smirk with Gray beside him sporting a scowl and a busted lip. "You're getting soft, Salamander," Gajeel said with a chuckle, the chuckle that everyone except a certain solid-script mage found weird. He bent his knees so that he was at eye-level with Natsu who was still sitting on the floor. "Maybe you should train more before you decide to pick a fight with me."

"Or me," Gray interjected as he cracked his knuckles. The ice mage had felt humiliated by the effortless way Natsu had picked him up and tossed him about like a rag doll. _Revenge would be sweet._

Natsu let out a harsh laugh as he stood up from the floor, dusting himself off. "You guys kidding? We're just getting started," he said as he let his arms fall to his sides, his fists blazing with his magic fire. He needed a good fight, and the thought of it made him grin. "I'm all fir—"

"That's enough from the three of you!" Erza's voice rang out through the guild hall as she approached, shooting them a glare. "There will be no fighting inside the guild."

But Natsu wasn't one to be deterred. He wanted—_needed—_this fight. "Let's take this outside then!"

Gajeel yawned. "This is getting boring," he murmured to himself as he walked away. "Lily," he called out to his partner who was looking at him unimpressed. Gajeel jerked his thumb at the mission board.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled after him. "Don't walk away, you chicken!" But Gajeel had only given him the finger.

"Son of a…" the pink-haired mage muttered before he turned to face Gray, only to find him being dragged away by Juvia. For some odd reason, Gray had started becoming obedient to the water mage as of late. "Tsk, what a wuss," Natsu said loudly, only to be hit on the back of his head by Erza.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Natsu," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her, glaring at him all the while. "But this behavior is unacceptable."

"Oh yeah?" Natsu said, grinning. If Gray and Gajeel were too chicken to fight him, he'd just find another way into a good fight. "Well I, Natsu Dragneel, challenge you to a duel!" he exclaimed and pointed his finger at the redhead who only shook her head.

She grabbed the hand in front of her and twisted it unnaturally and picked the dragon slayer up by his clothes. "Declined!" she shouted as she threw him out the window and on his ass.

Natsu blinked twice before his mind was able to properly register what had just happened. Like a child, the fire mage brought down his fists on the pavement and scowled. "Goddamnit!" he shouted.

"Yeah, Natsu, what's gotten into you?"

He froze and cursed silently. Things were not going according to plan. He turned his neck around to find Lucy with her hands on her hips, her eyebrow raised, and her head slightly tilted to the side. "Well?" she said.

Natsu looked away, a frown on his lips. _Too soon_, he thought to himself. _Much too soon_.

He had run home after last night and ignored Happy's questions and worried stare. Natsu had tried to fall asleep, but try as he might he just couldn't. Not after that. Not after what he saw. He had been itching for a fight precisely because of the girl behind him. Thinking back, Natsu realized he should've just gone on a mission.

"Hello_ooo_," Lucy said, walking around so that her boots were directly within his line of sight. "Don't you _dare _ignore me, Natsu," she said and Natsu _knew_ she was pouting. Because Lucy didn't frown when she was upset. She _pouted_. It was like she absolutely refused to be sad or upset by anything. Unless it was a really serious situation, then she would just bawl her eyes out. Lucy was a happy person, everyone knew that. She wouldn't stop smiling even if she could stop it. But, as selfish as it might sound, Natsu couldn't bear to see her smile when he knew the reason would be—would be—

His trail of thought was lost when he felt his cheeks being pulled apart. He had been so distracted that he didn't even notice when Lucy bent down so that they were eye-level until she started pulling his cheeks. "Stop ignoring me!" she yelled and then pouted again. Her face was inches away from his own and he could feel his face heating up. He held onto her wrists until she let go of him.

"Sorry," he murmured, loud enough for Lucy to hear. "I've been out of it lately."

Lucy scoffed half-heartedly. "That's an understatement," she said. Deep inside, Lucy knew something was wrong. She never knew Natsu to get so serious about anything. Battles—even life-threatening ones—would be fought with fierce determination, but even then you just _knew _Natsu was still having fun. Lucy decided not to press it, however, thinking that Natsu would open up to her when he was ready.

She offered him a smile. "C'mon," she said as she held up her hand, expecting Natsu to take it. "I'm kinda hungry. I'll get you that flaming Galuna chicken you've been raving about last week."

Natsu's ears perked up at that and he gazed at Lucy's hand longingly. "I—I don't know…" he said. He knew he shouldn't, but they were talking about _flaming Galuna chicken. _And the only reason he hadn't tried it out yet was because he wanted Lucy to try it out too. It was too good to pass up, but then—

But Lucy was already holding his hand, pulling him to his feet before he could even make a decision. The blonde was grinning at him. And it was that moment that Natsu knew he would never be able to refuse Lucy.

* * *

'_Not bad,' _Lucy thought, nodding to herself as she chewed the piece of chicken that was in her mouth. The longer that she chewed, the more delicious the meat seemed to taste. _'This is actually really good.' _She looked at Natsu who was sitting opposite her with his eyes wide, silently worshipping the chicken that lay on his plate.

"So," Lucy said conversationally after her partner had devoured the chicken in five bites. It surprised her a bit to find that his lack of table etiquette didn't bother her anymore as much as it did in the past. "When did you get back from your mission?"

Natsu refused to meet her eyes, as if he was considering telling her. "Yesterday," he replied. "The mission was kinda' easy so we were able to come back right away," he said. As much as Natsu hated being awkward around Lucy, he just didn't know how to act around her anymore.

He didn't understand where everyone got the idea that he had absolutely no idea when it came to dating or love. Dating just seemed like a waste of time to him, but love was not foreign to Natsu. No, love had made itself known to him a long time ago. He would never admit it, but he didn't remember a time when he didn't love Lucy.

"Really?" Lucy asked, looking a bit put out. "But I didn't see you at all yesterday. Where were you?"

Natsu shrugged. "Around," he said, before deciding to look Lucy straight in the eye. "Where were _you_?" he shot back, careful to keep the hurt from his voice. "You weren't at the guild all day."

Lucy blushed lightly and looked away. "It's no business of yours where a girl goes during her free time," she said, shifting in her seat. "If you must know, I was out on a date."

Natsu picked up the glass of water again and put it to his lips. "Okay," he said against the glass before taking another sip.

Natsu was more than just a best friend to Lucy. He was a lot like an overprotective brother most of the time. Always making sure she wasn't hurt in missions, or not being ogled by random guys on the street. So Lucy found his nonchalant answer strange. But Natsu had been strange the whole day.

Lucy sighed and reached over the table to put her hand on Natsu's closed fist. She rubbed his knuckles with her thumb and smiled serenely at him when he looked at her. "Whatever it is you're going through, it's going to be alright. I'm here for you, okay?"

Natsu's heart skipped a beat, but sadness took over before he could even feel giddy over Lucy's touch. "Yeah."

* * *

"About…your date," Natsu said, unable to look her in the eye. "I wanna meet this guy." It was late in the afternoon already and they were walking back towards the guild when he said it; the words already out of his mouth before he could even think of the repercussions.

"Wha—no way, Natsu." Lucy shook her head and put her hands on her hips like she always did. "That's too much, even for you. I can take care of myself, you know. I don't need you babying me."

But Natsu was already walking through the open doors that led to the guild hall. He decided that he didn't need her approval at all. Natsu was the kind of guy who never backed down from a challenge. And he needed to let this—this _bastard_ know that he was still in the game. And that he wasn't going to give up without a fight.


End file.
